Where Can A Muslim Woman Show Her Face?

A veiled woman is a familiar sight in many countries, especially Islamic ones. In many places like Afghanistan under the Taliban, a woman wanting to remain alive had to stay totally veiled.

Photo source:

• But how is the situation elsewhere? 
• Has it always been this tough for women?

History of Women Wearing Veils

Women wearing veils has a long history, going back to 13^th century B.C. Assyria. The ancient Greek women sometimes used veils. Statues of Persian elite women from Persepolis show examples of some women wearing veils and some without.

Photo source:

The Western world is also full of examples of women wearing veils.

The veil for women was rather common in the Byzantine Empire. Judith Herrin, in her book, Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, claims that Arab tribes did not use the veil before the spread of Islam. Anglo-Saxon and even Anglo-Norman women wore a veil like headdress called the Wimple.

Photo source:

Logic for Using the Veil in Islam

Awrah or Aurat (Arabic: عورة‎) is a term used in Islam, for parts of the body, which men and women must keep covered. Exposing the Awrah is considered a sin. Different schools of Islamic thought have different ideas about which particular body parts are exposable in which context.

In Middle Eastern Muslim societies (usually patriarchal) Namus is a concept of virtue. It relates to honour, respect and modesty. The Namus of a man, usually the breadwinner of the family, is violated if any woman in the household does not dress according the codes of chastity. People are often killed for violating Namus as has happened in Bangladesh, UK, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda.

Is there another even older logic for women using the veil?

Photo source:

Something, which is veiled, becomes more mysterious and alluring. Was the idea of a woman veiling herself, her way of keeping men enthralled? If you see everything easily, you soon lose interest; the logic goes.

The famous Dance of the Seven Veils, where veil after veil is tantalisingly removed as the dance progresses, definitely reveals such logic. This concept is thousands of years older than Islam, probably having originated with the myth of the goddess Ishtar and the god Tammuz in Babylonian and Assyrian mythology.

Different Kinds of Veils Used by Muslim Women

The chadri or Burqa is the total cover version of the veil. The Taliban in Afghanistan insisted that all women use it, but nowadays you see it only in the tribal areas. In Pakistan it is called the "Shuttlecock Burqa".

Photo source:

The Khimar is slightly more revealing as the eyes can be seen even by men on the street.

Photo source:

The Niqab shows the eyebrows and forehead and sometimes even the nose.

Photo source:

The Hijab is basically a headscarf as worn by women (e.g. Nuns) in many Western countries.

Photo source:

An even more permissive version is the loose headscarf as used by this Turkish Muslim woman.

Photo source:

Countries Banning the Hijab

12 European countries have (or are planning) various forms of bans for using veils:

• Albania (draft resolution)
• France (since 2004)
• Belgium (since 2011) 
• Germany (banned in 8 states) 
• Spain (no national ban, but the city of Barcelona has banned full face veils in Barcelona city) 
• Britain has no national, regional or city bans but schools are allowed their own dress codes since 2007) 
• The Netherlands has yet to pass legislation but is planning bans, Italy has a draft law wearing face covering veils (the town of Novara in the north-west is an example of a local ban) 
• Denmark has banned judges from wearing headscarves, crucifixes or other religious symbols 
• Russia tried to impose ban on women wearing headscarves in passport photos
• Kosovo has banned headscarves in schools in 2009 
• Austria as well as Switzerland are considering a ban in public places 

Of all the EU and European states, only Norway and Sweden have officially announced an anti-ban stand. The European ban situation update in 2011 can be found here.

Some countries outside Europe also have bans:

• Tunisia (since 1981) 
• Turkey (since 1997) ban the Hijab or head covering of women in public schools, universities and government buildings. 
• In Islamic Bangladesh, the state airline Bangladesh Biman forbids the use of the Hijab. 

The learned Egyptian, Mohammad Tantawi, the head of the oldest university in the world, Al-Azhar University in Cairo spotted only one 11 year old schoolgirl and ordered her to take off her Niqab and promptly issued a Fatwa in October 2009 that veiling the face is not required in Islam.

Several Belgian municipalities ban public wearing of the Niqab and Burqa. The Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht plan to cut social security benefits to unemployed women wearing a Burqa, on the grounds that it makes them unemployable in a predominantly non-Muslim country.

After the Shabina Begum case in the UK, the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords ruled that freedom to manifest religious beliefs is not absolute and can be restricted by the Government.

Finland has not officially discussed the issue yet, though many Muslims allege that wearing a veil or scarf seriously impairs their job prospects. A Finnish (non-Muslim) journalist put this allegations of discrimination to test wearing a full body and face covering veil walking around the city. Read the article here.

Photo source:

Men Wear Veils Where Women Do Not Use Veils

Among the Berbers in North Africa and the Tuareq in West Africa, the women do not wear veils but the men do. The Tuareq men wear veils to protect from evil spirits (or desert sand in reality) and start to wear them at the age of 25.

Maybe the evil spirits are only attracted to men there or the women have discovered women only secret methods of warding evil spirits off.

Photo source:

The Cut-Throat Battle for Halal Meat

“Man Ist Was Man Isst” this German saying means “You are what you eat!”

Since the beginning of time, people in different cultures have tried to make laws about what to eat, what not to eat and how to eat what. 

The concepts of Kosher and Halal are codes to followers of Judaism and Islam about what food products are good and which are bad for them. The market for Halal food for Muslims in the West is a multibillion dollar industry with cut-throat competition.

Photo source:

Meat for Muslims in the West is a Huge Market

One out of every six persons alive today is a Muslim. Of the 1,5 billion followers of Islam worldwide, a significant proportion live in the West. According to the 2001 census 2.7 % of the UK population of 61 million are Muslims. Estimates of Muslims in the USA vary from 1.1 million (American Religious Identification Survey) to 6-7 million (Council on American-Islamic Relations).

Photo source:

American Muslims are one of the most racially diverse religious groups in the United States according to a 2009 Gallup poll. As other Muslims in the West, they may disagree about many things, but one thing they agree upon is that their meat is properly slaughtered or Halal and not Haram or improper.

What is Halal?

Photo source:

The animal is to be slaughtered (only by a Muslim) should be healthy and alive at the time. 

Here is a video of a properly done Halal slaughter. Warning: Gruesome and shocking to watch!



Since carrion or eating dead animals is forbidden, the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe are severed with a razor sharp knife by a single swipe, to cause minimal pain. Further, all the blood should naturally drain away and the meat kept away from Haram meat like pork.

Photo source:

One county in Ohio, USA has a 2005 law against selling or producing food mislabeled “Halal”, which does not meet Islamic dietary standards. Halal Monitoring Committee in the UK tries to provide comprehensive certification.

The Australian government regulates all Halal slaughter, but in France there are as many certification bodies as France has varieties of cheese. Halal Industry Development Corporation, based in Malaysia has tried to create a global Halal certification standard but not succeeded.

The Lucrative market for Muslim food dollars in the West

Photo Source:

The market for Muslim food in the West is about $650 billion globally. Big European chains have been quick on the pursuit of this catch. The French Carrefour, the second largest retailer in the world, the British chain Sainsbury sells Halal meat and they even sell Halal chocolate at Tesco.

Zabihah, lists an online guide to shops and restaurants, which sell Halal products globally. Even Fast-food chains like KFC have Halal only restaurants in the UK and France.

Photo source:

No country has any kind of ban on foodstuffs favoured by Muslims though there may be bans on apparel. France forbade Muslims students to wear headscarves in schools in 2004. There is no similar ban in the UK. 69% of non-Muslim respondents in the USA, would allow Muslim students to wear headscarves and 64% would allow Muslims to date their sons or daughters, according to a July 2007 Newsweek survey.

Muslims may be disproportionately poor in the West, but they spend proportionately larger sums on food than other population groups. Maybe for this reason as well as for the rich cuisine, Muslim food has also become popular in the West. Antoine Bonnel, of Paris Halal Expo, claims that non-Muslims spend 12-14% of their income on food but Muslims spend double that amount on food and meat makes 30% of their food budget.

Why Oppose Halal?

Are there any reasons for opposing the practice of halal and kosher?

Photo source:

• Animal rights groups, even if they might eat meat themselves, object to the Halal method of slaughter as the animal should be alive when the throat is slit and the animal does feel pain.
• Immediately after coming to power, the Nazis outlawed Jewish ritual slaughter (very similar to Halal). Mussolini followed suit. As the Allies liberated Europe, these bans were revoked except in Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
• Some countries like New Zealand insist on specific methods of stunning before ritual slaughter as a compromise.

Some people strongly express their opinion that vegetarianism and Islam don't go very well hand in hand. But, this is not a comprehensive opinion shared by all Muslims. There are many Muslims who live perfectly sane, happy and healthy lives while choosing not to eat meat. 

I asked a Muslim friend of mine about his family's vegetarianism, and he replied "The one overall guideline on food that the Prophet gave was: Eat of what is halâl and what is agreeable to you. That says it all."